1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an output apparatus whose network-related settings can be changed through the operation of an operation panel or the like, an information processing apparatus such as a personal computer that is connected to the output apparatus via a network, and a network system that includes the output apparatus and the information processing apparatus.
2. Related Art
To connect information processing devices such as personal computers to one another via a network or to share an output apparatus such as a multifunction printer or a simple printer among a plurality of information processing devices over a network, it is necessary to configure administrative setting on each of the information processing devices and the output apparatus. The administrative setting includes network protocol setting (e.g., IP-address setting for inter-device identification over a network), user registration, access condition setting, and the like. For example, dedicated administration software (a management tool) that is different from application software that requires the use of the functions of the output apparatus for outputting is used for configuring such administrative setting when the output apparatus is connected to the network. Or, the operation panel of the output apparatus is used for configuring the administrative setting. A user who is duly authorized and registered as a network administrator performs administrative setting processing. The network administrator is allowed to access the system by inputting an administrator ID or an administrator password. Accordingly, the network administrator has sole authority to configure such administrative setting in an exclusive and integrated fashion.
An output apparatus that has an assigned IP address and allows information processing devices such as personal computers to use the functions of the output apparatus over a network is disclosed in JP-A-2001-92761.
A network administrator sometimes changes an IP address that is assigned to an output apparatus when, for example, office floor layout is changed. In such an occasion, it is necessary for the network administrator to inform users who use the functions of the output apparatus of the change in the IP address of the output apparatus. This necessity places an administrative burden on the network administrator, which is a problem that remains to be solved. On the other hand, in a case where the network administrator neglects his/her duty of notifying the change in the IP address of the output apparatus to the users, the users will be denied access to the output apparatus for printing, which is another problem that needs to be solved.